Oil-separator.



PATENTED OCT. 9, 1906.

' H. G. MILLER.

OIL SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAILG, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Attest: Inventor:

THE NORRIS PETERS cm, WASHINGTON, n. c,

-E 102/ e" k P 7/ H. G MILLER.

OIL SEPARATOR.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 6, 1905.

PATENTED OCT. 9, 1906.;f

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- Attest: 9M Inventor:

Maw/M b RhaLW/QM' #12 Atty.

rm: NORRIS PETERS cav, wasnmamw, ax.

. tact with the oil-extracting devices.

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY G. MILLER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE LOEVV MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A OORPORA- TION OF OHIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

OlL-SEPARATOR.

Patented Oct. 9, 1906.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY G. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil-Separators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of apparatus designed to facilitate the removal from exhaust-steam of the grease or oil carried thereby.

In its general aspect my invention comprises a steam-chamber made of suitable size and material and provided with inlet and outlet conduits for the steam.

It likewise comprises oilextracting devices within the chamber and means for draining the same, together with means de signed to interrupt the free passage of the steam and to guide it in succession into con- An im' portant feature also of this part of the invention is that the device may be and preferably is made in sections-viz, an inlet-section, an inlet-baffle-plate section, one or more oil-extractor sections, and an outlet-section. The capacity of the device depends upon the number of oil-extractor sections, and these may be added to indefinitely as circumstances may require.

It also comprises devices whereby a counter-current of feed-water may be passed through the ap aratus in a direction opposite to that of the current of steam, whereby heat is extracted from the steam to raise the temperature of the water. This part of the invention likewise comprises means for clearing the heated water of mechanical impurities and means for preventing any contact between the current of steam and the counter-current of water.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation of an apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the trays or drawers of an oil-extractor section, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the foraminous oil-extracting means.

In the drawings, 10 is the base or outlet,

section, comprising vertical walls 101 101, terminating in feet 110 110 and provided with a transverse horizontal partition 111,

having a central aperture 102, which serves as an outlet-conduit for the steam. A vertical diaphragm 103, in connection with a short horizontal plate 104 and the partition 111, forms a part 301 of conduit for the upward counter-current of feed-water to be heated, which conduit terminates in a threaded aperture 105, to which is connected one of the pipes 71 of the by-pass 70, forming part of the feed-water system. On the other side of the section 10 is a threaded aperture 106, communicating, by means of the pipe 81, with the oil-drainage pipe system 80, presently to be described. The walls 101 101 are provided with upwardly-extending flanges 107 107, which are apertured at suitable places to admit of the passage of bolts, whereby this section 10 is secured to the section immediately next to it in the series.

20 is an oil-extracting section comprising vertical Walls 201 201, provided on one side with a threaded aperture 205, adapted to receive the pipe 73 of the by-pass and on the other side with an aperture 206, adapted to admit of the insertion of a drawer containin the oil extracting means. Made integra with the walls 201 is a baffle-plate 202, composed of two plates 203 and 204 with a space 215 between them and terminating in a substantially vertical plate 207, the two plates 203 and 204 in the form of apparatus illustrated being inclined downwardly, as shown best in Fig. 2. The walls 201 terminate in projecting flanges 208, by means of which, through bolts or the like, the section 20 is united to the section next to it, and a similar flange is provided on the other (in this case the lower) side, whereby it is united to the section adjacent to it on that side. The drawer comprises a bottom or base plate 210, a rear vertical plate 21, and a front vertical plate 212. Above the bottom 210 and substantially parallel with it is a false bottom composed of a plate 213 with sides 214 214,

sloping upward toward the side walls of the drawer and the whole sloping downward toward the rear, where there is an aperture 225, leading down into the space 216, forming an outlet-conduit for the oil extracted from the steam while it is passing over the drawer 210. A pipe 82 connects this outlet-conduit with the vertical pipe 80, com rising part of the oil-extractor system. T e plates 214 are provided with transverse guides 226 to facilitate the passage of the oil toward the plate 213 down which it will flow toward the opening 225.

n the drawer and above the false bottom is arranged the oil-extracting means. This comprises in the form of apparatus illustrated, first, a layer 200 of fibrous absorbent material, such as the wood shavings called excelsior, or mineral wool or asbestos or the like,and, second, aforaminous oil-extracting device comprising a lower screen divided into two parts 220 and 221, which rest upon the plates 214, and a system of vertical screens 222 222, &c., gradually increasing in height as they approachthe rear end of the drawer, but all terminating in substantially the same horizontal plane. The screens are preferably made of woven wire or expanded metal, whereby a large surface is presented to the steam but its passage is retarded, not interrupted. Usually but one of these oil-extracting means would be employed in the same apparatus; but where unusual efliciency and compactness is required both may be used together.

30 is a second oil-extractor section in all respects similar to section and provided with the same parts arranged in substantially the same relations. The double baffle-plates 203 of the sections 20 and are connected outside of the device by means of a bypass pipe 230, (shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1,) so as to afford a continuous passage for the feed-water as it passes in an upward countercurrent through the apparatus.

is an oil-extractor section in all respects like that shown in sections 20 and 30; but its baffle-plate 203 is connected with an up wardly-eXtending pipe 231, which in turn is connected to another part of the feed-waterconduit system, which will presently be described.

The uppermost or steam-inlet section of the apparatus is composed of two parts or sections, the inlet-section proper, 60, and an intermediate inlet-section. The intermediate section comprises walls 501, terminating in lower flanges 502 and upper flanges 503, whereby they may be connected to the sections above and below. It is also provided with an aperture 504, connecting with the pipe 84, forming part of the oil-extracting.

system. A substantially horizontal baffleplate 505 is arranged across this section and provided with two upwardly-extending members 506 and 507, terminating in flanges, whereby they can be secured to similar members 606 and 607 within the steam-inlet section 60, and which members 606 and 607 are provided at their lower edges with flanges which register with the flanges on the plates 506 and 507. A screen 508 is arranged transversely across the top of the section 50 in a horizontal plane substantially coincident with its upper edges, the purpose of which will presently appear. Arranged above the plate 505 and beneath the screen 508 and between the members 506 and 507 is a mass of filtering material, such as wood-pulp, coke, or the like, adapted to retain the impurities in the water passing through the mass. A perforated pipe 509, connecting with the bypass pipe 231, is embodied in this mass of filter material. An outlet-pipe 510, open at its top and communicating at its bottom with a conduit 511, leading to a storagereservoir, (not shown,) also passes through this mass of filter material, but has no connection with it. The steam-inlet section comprises walls 601 and 602, terminating in flanges at their lower edges, by which theycan be secured to the section immediately below it. These also terminate upwardly in a pipe 603, pro vided with flanges 604 and 605, whereby this section can be connected by a by-pass or otherwise with the pipe through which enters the steam-supply.

The oil-drainage system is composed of a series of vertical pipes 80, united, by means of short pipes 81 82, &c., to 84, with the oildraining surfaces of the apparatus.

The mode of using this device is as follows: The steam enters the pipe 603 and impinges against the plates 507 and 607 and against the wall 601. It thus loses a portion of the oil or grease which it carries and which drains down into the conduit 84 and through that conduit into the vertical pipe of the oildrainage system, a grating being placed across the mouth of the pipe 84 to prevent the passage of any considerable portion of the steam in that direction. The steam flows in the direction indicated by the arrow around the plate 607 and beneath the baffle-plate 505 and around the end of the baffle-plate 203 Within the section 40. It then passes through and above the screens 222, over the screen 220, and over the absorbent layer 200 and beyond the innermost end of the drawer, and then on down into the similar section 30. Through this section it passes around the baffle-plate 205, over the drawer, and past its rear end down into the outlet-section 10, when the bulk of it will pass through the outlet-conduit 102, any oil which is deposited at this last stage of its journey passing through the conduit 106 into the pipe 81. As it passes down through these various oil-extracting sections the oil which it carries is deposited upon the screens 222 220 221 and layer 200 (if employed) and is drained from them by gravity onto the plates 214, thence into the channel 213 in each drawer, and flows down that channel to the aperture 225 in each drawer, whence it flows into the con duit 216 and through that to the pipe 82 and into the vertical pipe 80. If it is desired to increase the efliciency of the device, this may readily be done by inserting in the series one or more of the oil-extracting sections in addi- IIO - are easily taken apart.

tion to those with which the device is already provided. The drawers are readily removed for purposes of cleansing, and the sections It will be understood that all of the joints everywhere are made steam-tight. While the steam is passing downward through the apparatus and is thus being deprived of the oil mechanically suspended in it, the feed-water-heating system is being operated. This is made up of a continuous conduit formed of the. part 301, leading to the by-p ass 70, the pipe 73, leading from the by-pass into the hollow bafileplate 203 of this section 20, the bypass 230, leading to the hollow baffle-plate 208 of the section 30, and so on up through the system until the pipe 231 is reached. This connects with the perforated pipe 509, which terminates within the filter mass of the section 50.

chanical impurities and collects between the plates 606 .and 607 in a purified body, which as soon as it rises to the level of the pipe 511 overflows downward through that pipe into a storage-reservoir or into any other suitable place from which it may be drawn for use in the boiler.

My device is clean, compact, and highly efiicient. It removes the oil or grease from the steam and at the same time secures a proper preliminary heating of the feed-water.

Modifications may be made in the details of my device without departing from its es-' sential principles.

What I claim as new is 1. In an apparatus of the kind described,

an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, means for extracting the oil, consisting of a layer of absorbent material, and means for guiding the steam upon and over said material, said means comprising part of a conduit for feed-water.

2. In an apparatus of the kind described, an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, means for extracting the oil, consisting of a layer of absorbent material and foraminous screens, and means for guiding the steam upon and over said material.

3. In an apparatus of the kind described, an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, means for extracting the oil, consisting of a layer of absorbent material, and

Passing through this means for guiding the steam upon and over said material, consisting of baflie-plates secured to or made integral with the walls of the section and forming a passage for feedwater.

4. In an apparatus of the. kind described, an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, means for extracting the oil, consisting of screens of foraminous material interposed in the path of the passing steam and means for guidin the steam over said material, consisting o bathe-plates secured to or made integral with the wall of thesection and forming a passage for feed-water.

5. In an apparatus of the kind described, an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, means for extracting the oil, consisting of a layer of absorbent material and foraminous screens, and means for guiding the steam upon and over said material, consisting of bafiie-plates secured to or made integral with the walls of the section.

6. In an apparatus of the kind described, an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, means for extracting the oil and means for guiding the steam into contact with such extracting means, said guiding means forming a passage for feed-water.

7. In an apparatus of the kind described, an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, means for extracting the oil and means for guiding the steam into contact with such extracting means, consisting of a bafiie-plate secured to the walls of the sec tion and projecting outwardly therefrom and forming a passage for feed-water.

8. In an apparatus of the kind described, an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, means for extracting the oil and means for guiding the steam into contact with such extracting means, consisting of a hollow baffle-plate and forming a passage for feed-water.

9. In an apparatus of the kind described, an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adj acent sections, means for extracting the oil and means for guiding the steam into contact with such extracting means, comprising a drawer provided with draining-plates, a drainage-pipe conduit and means for preventing any subsequent contact between the steam treated and the oil in said drainagepipe.

10. In an apparatus of the kind described, an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, means for extracting the oil, comprising a drawer provided with a drainage IIO pipe and one or more screens of foraminous material carried by said drawer.

11. In an apparatus of the kind described, an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, means for extracting the oil, comprising a drawer provided with a drainagepipe, a screen, and one or more screens at an angle to the first screen.

12. In an apparatus of the kind described, an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, means for extracting the oil, comprising a drawer provided with a drainagepipe, a layer of absorbent material carried by said drawer and a screen above said layer.

18. In an apparatus of the kind described, an oil-extractor section comprising suitable walls, means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, means for extracting the'oil, comprising a drawer provided with a drainageipe, a layer of absorbent material carried by said drawer and a plurality of screens also carried by said drawer.

14:. In an apparatus of the kind described, a drawer or tray comprising a bottom, a false bottom above the same, an intermediate drain-pipe and channels in the false bot tom leading to the drain-pipe inlet.

15. In an apparatus of the kind described, an intermediate inlet section comprising suitable walls and means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, a baffle-plate sloping in two directions, one slope adapted to receive the steam upon its entrance to the apparatus and the other slope adapted to direct and guide the steam to its proper exit.

16. In an apparatus of the kind described, an intermediate inlet section comprising suitable walls and means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, a baffle-plate sloping in two directions, one slope adapted to receive the steam u on its entrance to the apparatus and the 05161 slope adapted to direct and guide the steam to its proper exit, said slopes having no communication with each other.

17. In an apparatus of the kind described, an intermediate inlet section comprising suitable walls and means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, a bafiie-plate sloping in two directions, one slope adapted to receive the steam upon its entrance to the apparatus and the other slope adapted to di rect and guide the steam to its'proper exit, said slopes having no communication with each other and embracing between them a space provided with means for filtering fluids supplied to said space.

18. In an apparatus of the kind described, an intermediate inlet section comprising suitable walls and means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, a baffle-plate sloping in two directions and having a liquidtight bottom uniting said slopes.

19. In an apparatus of the kind described,

an intermediate inlet-section comprising suitable walls and means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, a baffle-plate sloping in two'directions and having a liquidtight bottom uniting said slopes and embracing within the space thus formed means for delivering liquid to said space and filtering the same.

20. In an apparatus of the kind described, an intermediate inlet section comprising suitable walls and means for uniting the same to adjacent sections, abafile-plate sloping in two directions and having a liquidtight bottom uniting said slopes and embracing within the space thus formed a watersupply pipe, a layer of filter mass and a water-outlet pipe. I

21. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with a steam-inlet section of an intermediate inlet-section, each comprising walls and provided with means for uniting the same together, a hollow baffleplate supported within said sections and provided internally with a water-inlet pipe, a filtering-screen and a water-outlet pipe.

22. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with a steam-inlet section of an intermediate inlet-section, each comprising walls and provided with means for uniting the same together, a hollow bafileplate supported within said sections and provided with a perforated water-inlet pipe, a mass of filtering material within which said inlet-pipe is adapted to be embedded, a screen adapted'to confine the filtering material, and a water-outlet pipe having its inlet above said screen.

23. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with a steam-inlet section of an intermediate inlet-section, each comprising walls and provided with means for uniting the same together, a baffle-plate supported within said sections and one slope of which is adapted to receive the incoming steam and the other slope of which is adapted to guide the steam after such reception to an adjacent section, means for draining the first-mentioned slope of oil and means for guiding the steam away from said second s ope.

24. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with a plurality of oil-extractor sections, comprising hollow baffleplates, of means for supplying said hollow bafiie-plates with a sup 1y of water and causing the same to circu ate therethrough.

25. In an apparatus of the kind described,

the combination with a plurality of oil-extractor sections, of an i et-section and an outlet-section, each oil-extractor section being supplied with a hollow bafile-plate con nected to the similar baffle-plate of the adj acent section or to the steam-inlet section on the one hand or the steam-outlet section on the other, and means for causing water to pass through said hollow bafile-plates and connections.

In testimony whereof I afllx Iny signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY G. MILLER.

Witnesses:

LEONARD BoLz, FRED. H. BRENNAN. 

